


let me know if you need me

by summerela



Series: strong bonds don't break [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Band Fic, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friendship/Love, M/M, i wanted to explore their friendship since they're 'not as close' as the typical nct friendships, the liberal use of the word 'cute'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-23 08:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20005642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerela/pseuds/summerela
Summary: Chenle's too curious for his own good. What would sweet Jaemin do?Alternatively, Zhong Chenle likes to live life on the edge and it wouldn't be him to not test his limits and figure out why things are different between himself and Jaemin.Also alternatively, everyone seems to know something about Jaemin that he does not





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm using 6Dreamies for the purpose of this fic, so it should be their current hairstyles! But the time of the fic is around late autumn, just because I love the combination of cold weather + warm feelings  
> (it's been a while since I wrote a fic so I hope I'm not too rusty. This is also my first Dream fic yay!)

Chenle didn't think he would actually try this seriously.

He sits at the dining room table with a cup of milk tea in one hand, the other hand nervously playing with the fancy mug coasters Renjun had gifted everyone last Christmas. Across the room at the couches in the living room, Chenle eyes Jisung with an accusatory glint. The youngest only snickers quietly behind his big hands, before turning his undivided attention back to the quiet Chinese male beside him reading a book. Renjun jolts a bit, the beginnings of a flustered hue crawling up his cheeks when Jisung puts his chin on his shoulder - seemingly innocent wide eyes taking interest in Renjun's novel. But Chenle knows better and he scoffs inconspicuously into his collar, silent laughter turning into coughs when the person he had been expecting comes up to him and takes the seat beside him at the table.

"What are you up to today?"

His hyung looks at him with pretty eyes and a pretty smile. Chenle gulps because he doesn't want to carry out Jisung's stupid dare but he has always been too curious for his own good.

"The same old, shopping and going to Hangang." He grins when Jaemin leans forward and ruffles his hair playfully, the distance between the two of them slightly smaller than before.

Chenle takes note of small things like that.

Jaemin clears his throat, and if Chenle didn't know better he would've thought Jaemin looked rather nervous, but the younger boy internally laughs at that and stares expectantly at the older.

"Do you want to hang out then?" 

Chenle points at himself. "Me?" 

Jaemin pouts at Chenle's surprised tone, but it's not unwarranted considering that Jaemin usually spends his free time hanging out with the 00liners or bothering Jisung. Sure they've been getting closer recently but it's not the same. It wasn't that Jaemin felt awkward with Chenle and as a result, rarely sought out the younger boy, but Chenle wasn't Jaemin's _first_ pick if anything.

"Yeah sure, what do you want to do?" 

Chenle welcomes spending more time with Jaemin, maybe getting to know him better would be the leeway to seeing all of his hyung's different emotions. He frowns to himself, recalling he has never seen Jaemin cry or get angry with him.

"Let's first make brunch together." Jaemin says, getting up and lending a hand to Chenle. He nods, not thinking about the extra gesture as he grabs his hand, since Jaemin has always been touchy with everyone.

Their fingers interlace and Chenle turns his head to look at Jisung who has now situated himself on Renjun's lap, curled up in a half asleep state, the older playing with his hair absentmindedly while still focusing on his book. Chenle rolls his eyes at the half-awake boy, and Jisung scrunches his nose in retaliation.

There's a slight ache in his chest when he sees the two of them, off in their own world. but he's not jealous per se over Jisung receiving cuddles from Renjun. Chenle isn't sure why he feels like this but fortunately Jaemin distracts him from his thoughts.

"Want to make some 粥?" Jaemin had pulled Chenle flush against his side, his arm now around Chenle's waist. Chenle turns his attention from Jisung and Renjun to Jaemin and flashes him a big grin. 

"Of course hyung."

_A few days earlier_...

"Jisung Pwark, you suck at this." Chenle waves his arms around wildly, almost knocking over one of Jeno's anime figurines. 

Jisung squawks in indignation when his face is met with the brunt of a pillow attack, courtesy of the loud vocalist now giggling at the affronted look on the maknae's face.

"Are you crazy? Do you want me to give you a worse dare?" Jisung picks up the pillow lying down next to him (it's probably Renjun's) and aims it right back at Chenle. 

His aim is strong and it knocks Chenle backwards, head nearly hitting one of the bed frames.

Chenle laughs even louder. The near knockout experience seems too funny, so he's still guffawing like an idiot even though a part of him can't breathe while he's lying there on the ground like a sack of potatoes. Carpe diem indeed.

"You're crazy Lele," Jisung solemnly says before crawling his way apologetically to the gasping boy, reaching out to cradle his fallen head. Chenle relishes in being babied by the youngest but he quickly sits up and stares into Jisung's confused eyes when he realizes something.

"Wait I don't think I've ever seen Jaemin cry."

Chenle sits up, ramrod straight, and begins racking his brain for any instance he can remember of such an event. But his mind draws a blank and Chenle slumps in disappointment against Jeno's bed.

Jisung tilts his head thoughtfully.

"I've walked in on him with tears in his eyes. But I think it was because he burned his tongue on the coffee. He kept mumbling about how it hurts so bad but tastes so good." 

The younger boy shakes his head and continues talking, "Jaemin doesn't really cry."

"But what kind of group member am I if I've never been there for the others when they're feeling down?" Chenle points out.

Chenle had been there for Renjun when his 大哥 felt homesick over his family back in China, Jeno when the doting dancer found out Seol-ie was sick and needed to see a vet, Mark when their oldest couldn't express himself over his lyrics and Chenle walked in on him screaming quietly to himself, Donghyuck when the usually bright vocalist read hate comments online, and always Jisung when their youngest had doubts about himself and his capabilities. 

It was strange that in these years working alongside his friends he had never been privy to Jaemin's hardships and tears. He feels a heavy stone drop in his stomach.

"I guess Renjun and Jeno have seen him cry. I've heard hyung talking about it once but he was really hush about it."

Jisung looks off the side, gaze unfocused on the Moomin plush sitting upon Renjun's bed.

"Sometimes I don't understand why being the youngest in a group can be a blessing." 

Chenle perks up from his moodiness to chance a sideways glance at the maknae.

Jisung frustratedly pulls at a strand of his hair, hugging his knees to his chest.

"I hate not knowing what to do in situations, seeing the hyungs get stressed and shoulder all their burdens by themselves." Jisung puts his head on his knees and faces Chenle.

"Do you ever feel like that too? Sometimes realizing your view of the world is too sheltered when you can't be the source of comfort to those who matter the most?"

Chenle looks at the boy fondly, noticing the telling signs of sniffling when Jisung buries his face in his knees.

"Don't think like that, Jisungie" Chenle leans in and hugs the other, "We all have our own ways of comforting others. Feeling sheltered is natural because we don't live the same lives as everyone else. It's all subjective."

Jisung nods against Chenle's shoulder. "I wish I could be someone he relies on though." He says softly.

But Chenle doesn't catch his words, too busy thinking about how he's a source of comfort for Na Jaemin.

Jisung has stopped sniffling and has untangled himself from Chenle's embrace. He has an impish look on his face, and Chenle cocks an eyebrow skeptically.

"How about you try to make Jaemin show five different emotions? And no, it can't be his default happy or surprised state." 

Chenle can see the gears working in Jisung's head.

"Maybe sad, anger, and fear? No wait, worrying doesn't count either. So yes, those three."

Chenle snorts.

"That's only three." 

"I'll be the judge of the last two!" Jisung claps his hands together excitedly. And he's too cute, so Chenle doesn't have the heart to point out how stupid this dare sounds like.

"And if I win?"

Jisung squirms in place, eyes avoiding Chenle. "What do you want?"

Chenle taps in chin in deep thought. He remembers something.

"You have to tell me what's been on your mind these days! I know we're best friends but I feel like there's something important you're hiding from me and I want to help you out." Chenle smiles, his happy expression dropping when Jisung turns pink and looks away. 

"Fine." 

Jisung clears his throat, "But if I win, you have to do my chores for two weeks."

"Psh, that's not even that hard." Chenle says, "But how long do I have to carry out the mission?"

"Also two weeks."

The sudden slam of the dorm door signaling that the rest of the Dreamies are back prompts the two to look at each other in alarm.

Chenle gets up and also heaves Jisung up by the arms. "We should clean up or else Renjun would have our heads." Jisung nods and starts picking up the snacks scattered on the floor.

"My babies~~" Jaemin's voice filters through the closed door of the bedroom. It's the sound of doom, in the words of Jisung, but to Chenle, it's the sound of being caught trashing their hyungs' room.

Chenle hasn't even placed Renjun's pillow back on the bed when the door opens and he gets barreled over by five feet and nine inches of eager mess.

"Oof" Chenle sarcastically utters into the fluff of hair in his face when he finds himself lying on Renjun's bed with the one and only Na Jaemin on top of him. The older boy is smothering him, not at all bothered by the fact that they knocked Renjun's Moomin plush onto the ground.

Chenle tries to speak but he only ends up with a mouthful of soft blonde hair. He looks pleadingly to Jisung but the maknae shakes his head, too busy picking up the sacred stuffed animal.

Renjun comes in a second later, followed by Jeno, and sighs at the sight before him. There's a shriek outside that sounds like Donghyuck, probably upon finding the drawer of missing snacks.

The Chinese male stares at Jisung who's frozen holding the Moomin and then averts his gaze to Chenle, who's currently dying under Jaemin's fat ass (Jaemin's always complaining about having a flat ass, so really Chenle's doing him a favor by calling his ass fat).

"Really you guys?"

Chenle can only struggle out a shrug, arms pinned to his sides as Jaemin starts cooing about missing him and Jisung during their filming.

The first step was naturally to move back into the dorms.

Chenle had told the manager beforehand about his temporary living arrangements, and then proceeded to show up at the door with his large suitcase at six on this cold autumn morning. He wanted his two week sleepover to be a surprise, hence why he's currently wearily rubbing his sleep-addled eyes and squinting into the intercom.

He doesn't know what to expect so early in the morning but he's surprised to see a mop of messy hair block his vision when the door does open as Jaemin crouches down and moves aside the messy shoes.

"Lele?" Jaemin mumbles, picking himself up and dragging himself over to the younger boy to pull Chenle into his arms.

Chenle doesn't mean to squeak but he does let out an embarrassing sound and Jaemin shuffles in closer, cold air behind him forgotten as his hyung's embrace warms him up from head to toe.

"What you doing here?" 

Jaemin's slurring his words, evident from being woken up earlier than needed, and Chenle wants to tease him. One look, however, at the older's eye bags and Chenle holds back his sharp tongue.

"I'm staying over for two weeks," He says into Jaemin's shoulder. They're actually about the same height but Chenle likes curling up against his hyungs.

Jaemin pulls away in confusion, "What? Since when?"

Chenle looks back at him equally in confusion. "Did Manager hyung not tell you?" 

Jaemin shakes his head, no, and takes Chenle's hand and suitcase to the living room after shutting the door. 

"We didn't know. I guess we'll need to figure out sleeping arrangements." Jaemin mutters, staring at the couch in distaste.

Chenle follows his gaze and walks over to the couch, falling onto it dramatically.

"What do I do now? I didn't leave my comfy bed at home only for y'all to forget a sixth member exists in 6Dreamies." He pouts up at the ceiling, half joking because he really doesn't mind sleeping on the couch, but also half serious because it probably won't be good for his back.

Jaemin's silent and still, looking at the ground. And Chenle turns his head to see what his hyung would do.

"It's only two weeks right? We can share a bed." Jaemin finally says, breaking out of his quiet trance. He smiles sweetly, and Chenle finds himself feeling inexplicably warm.

"You sure about that?" Chenle gnaws at his bottom lip, but he stares hopefully at the other, unfazed by the equally intense stare Jaemin gives back.

"Of course, my bed is the biggest one out of everyone's anyways." Jaemin starts walking to his room, turning a head back to look at Chenle, "Jisung was supposed to move into my room but I suppose he didn't want to move out of his old room with Renjun and Jeno." He shrugs.

Chenle gets up. "Well you said it first and not me. I really like to hog the blankets though." 

Jaemin smiles softly at him, chuckling lightly. "It's fine. I'm going back to bed now if you want to sleep too."

The clock reads 6:10am and they don't have schedules until ten. Another three hours until they're supposed to be awake. 

He doesn't need to be told twice as Chenle bounds over to Jaemin's side.

Jaemin's room is just as spacious as Chenle remembers, save for all the Ryan and other cute plushies surrounding the basic perimeter. It's cozy, and sings 'Na Jaemin!' in all its glory.

"No really, if it gets too uncomfortable, I can sleep with Jisung or crash on the floor." Chenle suggests but he still follows Jaemin into his room and crawls under the covers the older has so graciously lifted up for him.

"Jisung might accidentally kick you out of bed. Heard he's been getting nightmares recently." Jaemin comments. Chenle looks at him in alarm.

"It's okay, it's only been recent. You can talk to him after we sleep okay?" Jaemin murmurs, leaning over Chenle to fluff up his pillow.

"But the ground...?" Chenle whispers, feeling Jaemin's hot breath fan over his cheeks momentarily before the older leans back and sinks into his own pillow. He feels rather than hears Jaemin grunt, having thrown one of his arms over Chenle and is now pulling the younger closer to him.

"You're crazy." 

Chenle smiles playfully against Jaemin's collarbone and giggles silently when he feels Jaemin run his hands up and down his spine.

"Is this my retribution for taking your bed hostage?" He looks up and is startled by how close their faces are. But he doesn't look away or move back, curiously eyeing the expression on Jaemin's face.

Jaemin's eyes dart all over Chenle's face but then he only hugs him closer.

"Yeah pretty much. Prepare yourself Zhong Chenle."

Truthfully, it has already been a few days since Chenle's mission began. He isn't really keeping track, too immersed in being back in their dorms 24/7. They still have practices and events to attend to, but all in all, Chenle's feeling incredibly happy to be back with his friends.

On one of their lax days, Chenle finds himself in the kitchen sipping his homemade milk tea. He recently developed the perfect recipe to making the treat, and would at times make extra for his hyungs. Jisung has been banned from taking a sip, all in the name of being the evil mastermind behind his dare which is still going nowhere. 

He glares again at the maknae, who's trying to melt into Renjun's side, pouting unconsciously when the older isn't paying any attention to him. 

Come to think of it, Chenle doesn't remember when the two of them got so close. It was probably in the quiet hours between schedules when Chenle went home to his family rather than back to the dorms with everyone else.

He grimaces a bit at the slight FOMO he's experiencing.

Oh well.

It's nearing noon and the sun is already casting a pleasant glow upon the cold floors. Renjun looks like he's under a halo, judging by the soft hues the sunlight creates upon the crown of his head.

And judging by Jisung's stare.

Huh.

Chenle wants to say something obnoxious to break the younger boy's unfaltering concentration on Renjun's face but his phone lights up beside him.

_"Prepare to do my chores Lele! ㅋㅋㅋ"_

Chenle frowns at the reminder. He obviously did not put that in. 

He eyes the scheming maknae with an accusatory glint. The younger snickers in response and the rest is history.

By the time the others have woken up, Chenle's in the kitchen with Jaemin working on making "American style" omelettes. They didn't have rice, which was honestly an atrocity in an Asian household (Mark would probably be screaming about how dysfunctional the Dreamies dorm is, now that he's gone), so they couldn't make Chinese porridge. Needless to say, their omelettes are 45% bacon and 45% cheese. Chenle isn't sure what the last 10% is comprised of. At least he's sure the yellow stuff is beaten eggs.

In retrospect, as they placed the last of the omelettes onto a plate and both agreed to be extravagant by sprinkling garnish into the shape of hearts, Chenle is almost surprised by how alike and in tune they are to each other.

He has always known Jaemin is pretty affectionate with a brilliant grin to brighten up anyone's day. He supposes he's a bit like that too, although Donghyuck is more fitting of those titles too.

But Chenle notices how meticulous the other is while preparing food, following steps that only he knows best. The younger recalls how he makes his own ramyun, with a similar precision, and it makes him feel a fluttery lightness inside of him.

Jaemin also proved to be incredibly patient, something Chenle is not as well-versed in (he thinks of all the Chenji videos he filmed with Jisung and how many times he called Jisung out for having poop hands whenever the maknae messed up. Yikes). As a superb egg flipper, Chenle had definitely missed the notice about flipping omelettes with a spatula and not just with the pan. As a result, the aforementioned omelette was smashed, bacon bits and cheese oozing out. Chenle looked at the shitshow forlornly, but Jaemin had only laughed, telling him he would eat the omelette. 

_"But hyung, it...looks like questionable scrambled eggs."_ _Chenle had pouted, eyeing the disgrace sitting harmlessly on a plate._

_"Don't worry about it. I want to eat it because you made it." Jaemin had replied thoughtfully._

_After that, Chenle watched Jaemin flip the other omelettes._

Chenle's lost in his musings about Jaemin when a hug around his waist startles him.

He turns around and meets the radiant smile of Donghyuck, who's eyeing the omelettes over Chenle's shoulder. 

"Lele!" Donghyuck all but shouts, and if Chenle winces a little, the other pays no mind. 

"Did you make these?" He asks, sneaking a hand over to grab a bite.

Jaemin smacks his dirty hand. "No touch. Wash your hands first Hyuck."

Donghyuck deflates on Chenle's back but doesn't move otherwise. "You wound me everyday."

Chenle giggles, watching as Jaemin shoots him an incredulous look. Probably because of the dramatic lad still perched against his back.

"And you wound me. Stop crushing Chenle." Jaemin says as he reaches over to try to pry Donghyuck off his back. Donghyuck smiles cheekily back at him, making no efforts to abandon his comfortable spot. Jaemin glares. Their exchange transpiring without Chenle's notice.

It only takes a minute for Jaemin's kicked puppy look to convince Donghyuck.

"Oh well, I'll be ready in a minute. Thanks Lele!" Donghyuck gleefully says before landing a loud kiss on the younger boy's cheek and bouncing away.

Chenle laughs at his hyung's antics, as Donghyuck barely dodges the towel Jaemin throws at him. 

"Aww hyung, we all know you actually made most of the food." Chenle says earnestly, slinging an arm around Jaemin's shoulders. Jaemin rolls his eyes and prepares to go back to the counter.

"I can give you a kiss too!" Chenle teasingly says, not noticing how Jaemin stiffens under his arm because he's already leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his hyung's burning cheek.

"Na Jaemin, are you embarrassed??" 

Chenle isn't one to always hold something against his members. Maybe if your name is Park Jisung, he'd never let you live down your life's monumental embarrassments. 

But it's Na Jaemin, and Chenle doesn't bring up Jaemin's blushing cheeks from earlier. Instead, he swings his clasped hands in front of him as he waits for his hyung to get ready.

"Please Jaemin-hyung, my life is ticking away." Chenle whines from the front door. He hears Renjun snort as he passes by, going into the kitchen to make himself some more tea. 

"哥,你今天打算做什么?" Chenle calls out, rocking on his tippy toes impatiently.

"Not planning to spend my time with you obviously." Renjun retorts back. The smaller walks out with a hot cup of tea balanced in his hand.

"I can spend time with you," Jeno offers with his glasses perched on his nose, looking up from his phone as he walks by the entrance. "Though, Hyuckie and I are planning to watch a movie. You can come with?"

Chenle's about to answer him when Jaemin bursts out from his room.

"I'm ready! We can go now." Jaemin almost runs into Chenle, and the sight is comical if Renjun wasn't throwing daggers at how Jaemin barely brushes by the cup held precariously in Renjun's hand.

"You're an idiot." He bluntly says, checking to see if the floor was damaged by any of the scalding liquid. 

Jaemin pitifully cries into Chenle's shoulder once he's next to him and gives Renjun a betrayed look.

"You only care about the floor? And not me?"

Then he stops his fake wailing and turns a 180 in expression, giving Jeno a smirk. 

"Enjoy your not-date Jeno-ah."

Chenle watches as Jeno's face tints red and the older boy stutters that he's going to be late, leaving them instantly.

"Hehe, so cute. I love teasing him. His reaction is always pure gold." Jaemin smiles, looking back at Chenle. "You ready?"

He nods and turns around to leave but is met by Renjun, who has placed his cup down somewhere.

"Your reactions are just as classy, Na Jaemin." Renjun smiles before leaning in and kissing Chenle on his upper forehead.

Chenle squawks.

There's another yelp in the room and Chenle looks towards the noise only to see Jisung standing stock-still, like a deer caught in headlights.

He isn't able to retaliate and ask Renjun what the hell he meant by that, when Jaemin, brazenfaced and red, grabs Chenle's arm and pulls him out the door.

They've walked about a block until Chenle finally tugs on Jaemin's hand to make him stop power walking. 

"You good there?" He asks the huffing boy, who has let out a deep sigh and brought a hand up to push aside his bangs. He misses and the blue part of his hair falls back to the middle. Chenle walks closer, now that Jaemin has finally let go of his arm, and moves Jaemin's beanie up before parting Jaemin's fringe and then bringing the rim back down.

"I don't know what the heck Renjun was trying to do but I think he wants something, I just don't know what." Chenle wrinkles his nose, stuffing his cold hands into the pockets of his pants.

"I don't know either," Jaemin clears his throat, "Anyways, what did you want to buy?"

"I was thinking of some light shopping at a nearby clothing store. Nothing too fancy and somewhere more lowkey." Chenle sees a familiar storefront in the distance, "Maybe there!" He drags Jaemin with him towards that direction, and doesn't think twice about grabbing Jaemin's hand.

By the time they're a few feet from the store, Chenle notices how quiet Jaemin's been. He turns around and sees Jaemin looking down oddly at their hands.

"Minnie hyung?" He waves a hand in front of the other's face. Jaemin blinks and looks back up at Chenle.

"Are your hands not cold?" 

Chenle smiles sheepishly, "It's fine. Plus you have gloves on so I'll just steal your warmth."

Jaemin laughs good-naturedly and tightens his hold on Chenle's hands, "You don't even have to ask."

They peruse the store for about an hour. It's a casual thrift shop, with styles Chenle had his eye on since forever. He didn't think he'll end up like this though.

"Okay darling, put that arm up and behind your head. Yes, Lele, that's perfect. Now bend one of your knees..."

This as in posing in absurd, model-like poses for Jaemin while his hyung tries to take slanted, avant-garde photos of Chenle. He's pretty sure there's a photo of him at a weird angle so that his head looks really small and unproportionate to his body. It's Jaemin after all.

_"Well you're not big head anymore, Chenle-ah." Jaemin chortles after seeing the result._

_Chenle honestly doesn't know whether to laugh or cry._

The younger blows a feather out of his mouth. He doesn't know when and why Jaemin placed a feathered vest on him, but it's so high-collared that Chenle can't see through his navy tinted aviator glasses. He also has on an abnormally large cowboy hat, and it's tilting forwards. Definitely covering up his IT-like orange hair, but also obstructing his vision from the top.

"This is ridiculous, hyung" Chenle mumbles around the furs and feathers covering him up. 

Jaemin gives him a slightly apologetic look before pushing him back into the dressing room with a lump of clothes in his arms.

"Last outfit, I promise!"

Chenle wants to bang his head against the dressing room wall. He loves his hyung but he definitely came to grab some hoodies and a few street style pieces to supplement his wardrobe. But...

Seeing the soft smile on Jaemin's face makes him realize it isn't too bad letting his hyung play around with him.

It's kind of cute actually.

Chenle chokes on his thought, both metaphorically and literally. There's a knock on his door and a concerned tone piercing through the quietness of the store.

"Are you okay, Lele?"

Chenle looks into the mirror and sees that his face is unusually flushed.

"Just peachy!" He yells back.

He gets out of the vests and slacks, cowboy hat and aviator glasses put aside. Then he eyes the lump of clothes sitting on the chair.

"Oh."

The lackluster response is a bit underwhelming if Chenle were to be honest, but the slightly agape mouth present on Jaemin's face makes the whole ordeal rather interesting.

" _Oh?_ " Chenle lifts an eyebrow before doing a twirl in his color block hoodie - blocks of pink, black, and white artfully placed to create a fashion statement. He can see Jaemin wearing something like this, not really himself. But it's quite nice.

He puts a leg up against the wall, socked feet achingly pointing towards the wall and really, it looks like a messed up penché because he's leaning to his side and yeah, he clearly doesn't know any ballet terms. The black joggers are helping him in flexibility though. 

Chenle lifts his head back up at Jaemin, pouting when the older still isn't forming any coherent response.

"Hyung, you chose this outfit. What do you have to say for yourself?" He wants to ruffle his own hair in mild irritation but the white beanie with the bear ears on top of his head prevents him from doing so.

The silence is disconcerting and Chenle's about to run over to Jaemin and jump onto him to shake some sense into his hyung when the other finally makes a sound.

"You look nice." Jaemin says carefully, making his way over to him, watching as Chenle listlessly collapse against the wall after that failed attempt of a leg stretch.

"Of course I do!" Chenle purses his lips and looks up.

Huh.

He forgot Jaemin was wearing his boots today and without his own shoes on, Jaemin's suddenly a good few inches taller.

Jaemin looks back at him inquisitively, wondering why their heights are suddenly different. He looks down and sees Chenle's socks.

"Ryan socks?" A small grin appears on Jaemin's lips and Chenle doesn't know why he feels shy, as he toes the ground embarrassingly.

"He's a cute character I guess."

Jaemin's lip twitches in response.

"Only cute? I love Ryan!" Chenle rolls his eyes in blatant fondness, everyone knows that. He eyes his phone in response instead and clucks his tongue.

"I believe we all know how much you love Ryan. Are we done now?"

It's a surprising struggle but Chenle can't believe he has to go on his tippy toes to pat Jaemin on the head. Jaemin beams back at him, but he looks distracted.

"Almost.." 

Jaemin grabs the hand hanging in mid-air and intertwines their fingers. He brings out his phone with the other hand and turns the camera to selfie-mode.

"What are you trying to do?" Chenle asks suspiciously, his hand surrenders to Jaemin's as he makes no attempt to extract it.

"We have to take a picture because you're so cute!" Jaemin says matter-of-factly, "You're so small hehe."

Chenle wants to smack the giggling boy next to him, but he can't bring his other hand to do so. Instead he groans into his free palm. 

"I bet I'm still taller than Renjun hyung though."

They make their way to Hangang after the shopping excursion, Chenle now sporting the color block hoodie because it was getting chilly as the sun was setting and he forgot to wear something thicker.

He's not exactly sure what he has planned out for the rest of today's outing, considering that he had initially thought he would be back in the dorms by now. 

So he proceeds to find a nice patch of grass near a tree by the river to watch the sunset, already tempted to lie down and take a quick nap. But before he can place his body down, Jaemin nudges him and he watches as the older take off his coat and place it down on the grass for the two of them to lie upon.

A noise of protest bubbles up his throat but Jaemin interrupts him.

"Don't want you getting your new hoodie dirty Lele."

Chenle supposes Jaemin has a point so he flops gently onto Jaemin's coat, immediately snuggling up to its warmth. Jaemin lies down slowly next to him and for a good solid moment, the only sound they hear is their calm breathing.

Until Chenle's stomach growls and the younger looks guiltily across at the older.

"Let's order some food, anything you want?" Jaemin is already pulling out his phone and looking over expectantly at Chenle.

"我要面" He says happily, informally because he's getting sleepy in his big hoodie and Jaemin's looking at him with an indulgent expression.

"Okay, I'll order some noodles from your favorite place then." Jaemin replies back before dialing the number.

Chenle probably dozed off because in the next moment, he's aware that he's being pinched awake on the cheek.

"Heyyyy" He mumbles around Jaemin squishing his cheeks, obviously not amused by the manhandling. 

"Sorry, you know I can't resist." Jaemin cheekily smiles back but lets go.

Chenle grumbles but sits himself up and sees the food. He reaches for it, feeling the steam and is instantly glad that Jaemin woke him up. He throws the other a cute smile, "I'll eat well!"

Jaemin chuckles in reply before grabbing his share and taking huge bites. They eat in silence, broken only when Chenle sees a smudge of sauce on Jaemin's lip and he reaches over to wipe it off.

It feels normal and natural to him until Chenle feels the other tense under his finger already pressing gently against the other's lips.

Chenle hurriedly leans back.

"Sorry, I'm used to doing that with Jisung. I forget you're older than me." Chenle apologizes worriedly, hoping he didn't offend him. He doesn't look at Jaemin's face, worrying if he overstepped a line.

When Jaemin doesn't say it's okay, Chenle decides to take a peek and sees Jaemin looking troubled. He doesn't look mad so Chenle crawls up closer to him.

"It's because he's the maknae right?" Jaemin says quietly, eyes widening when he realizes Chenle's beside him, on his knees with a finger ready to poke his face.

Chenle sort of nods but stops.

"That too but I'm really close to him. We're best friends, remember?" 

"What are we?"

Chenle doesn't anticipate that sudden question and so he accidentally stumbles backwards onto his butt in shock. He winces but doesn't feel the fall, mind wrapped around Jaemin's genuine doubt.

"We're friends too!" 

He doesn't mean to sound defensive but he doesn't like how Jaemin seems kind of dejected, though that too could be the trick of the lamp light. He hopes his hyung doesn't think Chenle would consider anything otherwise.

"Of course" Jaemin nods his head and goes back to munching on his food.

It's quiet again and Chenle properly sits cross legged next to Jaemin.

"But I think we're not just friends, hyung. After all, we've been spending more time together. I think you're special to me too." Chenle says sincerely, making sure Jaemin's looking straight at him and not avoiding his eyes.

Jaemin swallows and smiles gradually before an unfairly attractive expression appears on his lips.

Chenle feels the beginning of something delicate flutter inside of him.

It's nine at night when they ultimately find themselves shuffling through the doors of their dorm, weary but happy grins on their face after a nice outing. Jisung's on the couch with Donghyuck playing some video game, if the loud cursing and sound effects were of any indication. Renjun is seated snugly between Jisung's legs, intrigued by the scene playing on the TV. He doesn't seem to mind that Jisung has his controller over his face as the younger boy is leaning up against the back of his head.

Jeno leisurely strolls by while he's drying his hair just as Chenle walks in with Jaemin.

"You guys were out for so long." He observes, eyeing Chenle's head with an interested glint before making his way to the couch and taking a seat beside Donghyuck.

Jaemin turns to Chenle and shrugs, before following the blonde and seating himself next to him on the arm of the sofa. 

There's the sound of a crash and Jisung's groan. Donghyuck's cackling rather evilly, sharing a smile with Jeno who's already grinning at him happily with his crescent-shaped eyes.

"Why did you do that hyung??" Jisung throws his controller to the side and slumps unconsciously onto Renjun, who's a bit startled by the sudden weight on his back and head but makes no move to push the younger boy off of him, taking to quietly patting his shoulder in mock comfort.

"Should've looked at where you were going but you got too distracted by Renjun's voice." Donghyuck snickers, already out of hitting range of the mentioned sweet-toned vocalist.

"I did not!" Jisung's blushing and it's quite the sight for Chenle.

He doesn't get to ponder at this revelation when Renjun looks up and sees him standing there.

"Where did you get that hat?" He points, directing everyone's squabbling to Chenle. At the center of everyone's attention, Chenle turns to Jaemin while he self-consciously reaches up to touch the ears. Jeno catches the glance and decides to open his mouth.

"So he bought that for you on your not-date?" 

There's chaos in the next split second.

Jaemin has Jeno in a smothering hold, yelling while Jeno is letting out muffled noises; all the while Donghyuck is loudly clamoring for details and launching himself across the couch to grab at Chenle. Renjun is looking at them all with a mixture of confusion, awe, and annoyance, already feeling a headache building up. And Jisung?

He's looking rather triumphant.

Or as triumphant as he can look, looking like melted goo on top of Renjun's head.

"Will everyone please be quiet!" Chenle screams. The noise dies down immediately, but Jaemin still has Jeno in a choke hold.

"Yes he did buy me the hat. But it's cute, and Jaemin has good taste." Chenle promptly says, beaming at the slowly blushing boy who's loosening the deadly grip he has around Jeno.

"And joke's on you guys. Because he bought me this hoodie AND treated me to dinner. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a win to me."

There's shrieking and an ear-deafening holler but Chenle doesn't care. He's had a good day and his hyungs can simmer in jealousy all they want. With a light skip, he makes his way to Jaemin's room, ignoring everyone's questions.

He's making his way from the bathroom to the door of Jaemin's closed bedroom, when he sees Jisung lying on his back on the couch in his pajamas, staring emptily up at the ceiling.

"Hey." Chenle whispers, quietly padding over to the maknae's side. Everyone else is already in their rooms, Chenle having finished using the restroom last. Usually Jisung would be in bed by now, or at least talking to one of the hyungs in the bedroom. Maybe things have changed since Chenle last stayed in the dorms.

"What are you thinking about?" He prods the soft cheek, smiling when Jisung puffs it out like a hamster. 

He sits down at the foot of the couch and watches as Jisung change his position so he's lying on his side and looking at Chenle with inquiring eyes.

"How was today?" 

Chenle wrinkles his nose, believing Jisung just dodged his question. But he won't pry, Jisung will tell him when he's ready.

"It was really fun. I thought it would be awkward at times but it's pretty much the same if I were to spend the time with any of you guys. Minus you and Renjun 哥 because you wouldn't buy me anything -"

"Hey!"

"-and Renjun 哥 would probably blackmail me half the time as I put myself in embarrassing situations."

Jisung grumbles but makes no protest because it's almost entirely true.

"How was Jaemin hyung?"

Chenle tilts his head, surprised by the question. But he presumes in light of his mission, it'd make sense to ask that.

"He was fine. Really happy and kept calling me cute." Jisung rolls his eyes at this, muttering a soft _typical Jaemin hyung_.

"But he was silent at some times. He ponders over a lot of things but I can't tell what he's thinking. It's nice to see this side of him too, although it feels like I'm farther away from him in those moments." Chenle admits, placing his chin down on the couch and watching a mixture of expressions dance upon Jisung's face.

"Remember how long it took for us to get close? It's the same for Jaemin hyung. He loves you a lot and I'm sure he'll be able to express himself fully around you soon." Jisung earnestly says. "You're cute and a good person Lele."

Chenle feels touched, aware that his cheeks are glowing hotly. "Thanks Jisungie."

"You still have only a week left though." Jisung smirks, suddenly reminding Chenle about their dare.

Chenle groans. "At this rate, I'm doomed to be your chores servant."

Jisung laughs and pulls himself up from the sofa. "Good night Lele, don't dream about all the dishes and clothes you have to wash."

Chenle gives him the stink eye but wishes him good night as he makes his way to Jaemin's room.

The door is already ajar, as Chenle quietly walks in. The faint glow of one of Jaemin's night lamps casts a sheltering glow against the walls. Jaemin's sitting in bed, reading a book and not looking up when Chenle clambers into bed.

The older boy’s gaze are pointedly fixed on the text but his eyes aren't moving. 

"Hyung, your eyesight will worsen if you try to read in this light." 

Jaemin snaps out of his daze and puts his book on the desk beside him. He says nothing and slides down into the covers, reaching over to turn off the light.

Chenle waits a moment, as Jaemin's facing the other way with his back to him, and he frowns at the sudden coldness from the other. He wants his nightly cuddles from his favorite hyung. 

With a subtle scoot closer, he wraps his arms around the older's middle and tugs himself forward so he's pressing his face against Jaemin's back.

"HyuNG" He accidentally yawns, mortified when he realizes he broke the quiet ambiance with his loud as hell yawn.

Jaemin loosens his stance and turns around, lifting a hand up to caress Chenle's exposed cheek.

"What is it Lele?" 

Chenle grumbles, face red from earlier.

"ARe yoU ignorINg me hYung" He's muttering petulantly like a child. In any other situation, Chenle would be feeling chagrined by his backward progression of becoming more mature but he’s also increasingly becoming aware of how Jaemin has a way of bringing out his really clingy side.

Jaemin coos, pressing his face into Chenle's hair. "No, how could I ignore such a cute and good person like you??"

Those words sound vaguely familiar but Chenle only cares about the warmth emanating from Jaemin's embrace.

"Okay, good, because I thought you were being grumpy about something and it made me sad."

Jaemin stops his nuzzling and pulls away just slightly so Chenle can make out his face roughly in the darkness.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, but I could never resent you Chenle." 

Chenle peers back in quiet observation, watching as Jaemin's face softens and feeling his hyung clumsily brush his hand against Chenle's cheek.

"I don't think I know you that well, hyung." Chenle confesses and he turns to face the ceiling, letting Jaemin's hand draw back to its owner. Jaemin doesn't move from his side though, and Chenle can feel his gaze intensely resting on his face.

"I think you will soon enough. Relationships take time right?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Renjun and Chenle speak in Chinese when they talk to each other, I wanted to incorporate some of that semblance into the narrative  
> 粥 - congee  
> 大哥 - big brother (or basically a variation of 哥 for hyung)  
> 哥,你今天打算做什么? - Hyung, what do you plan to do today?  
> 我要面 - I want noodles
> 
> (I realize the dare is kind of going nowhere but don't worry, it'll all be covered in the next chapter!)


	2. final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dare commences, except it's really a mess.

"Isn't that Jaemin's favorite hoodie?" Donghyuck says with a mouthful of granola, eyeing the piece of clothing Chenle wears around proudly.

Chenle gives a noncommittal shrug, but inside he's genuinely pleased. The annoyance on the vocalist's face is plain, seeing that the other had similarly coveted the same article of clothing a week ago but Jaemin had muttered 'mine' before snatching it out of Donghyuck's hands.

He's not particularly sure why Jaemin had reacted in that possessive fashion. The hoodie isn't _that_ special. Chenle thinks it's the one he pointed out to the other around the time of their promotions together during Go, when the company had let them all go shopping towards Christmas season. He and the other Dreamies didn't get opportunities like that often so he made sure to enjoy it to the fullest. And that included picking out semi-thoughtful, semi-random gifts for everyone else.

If Donghyuck's this annoyed, Jaemin should be livid that Chenle had stolen his favorite hoodie without any semblance of a warning.

Chenle's literally parading up and down the hallway, waiting for Jaemin to step out of the bathroom and get angry at him. Instead he catches the eye of Jisung who only rolls his eyes at his silly antics.

"You can laugh now, but know I'll have the final win." Chenle utters in his most threatening voice.

"What are you talking about?" 

Chenle turns around and sees Jaemin in a loose white tee, collar of the shirt lying a bit too generously on his body. He gulps and scans his eyes upward away from the sudden flash of shoulders and collarbones, looking for Jaemin's reaction.

But he doesn't get the one he expects.

"Is that my hoodie?" Jaemin sounds amused with a pensive look on his face as he reaches a hand out and grabs one of the hoodie's aglets. "It looks good on you, Lele."

Chenle wants to yell, possibly weakly punch Jaemin in the arm so the other can stop smiling goofily back at him, but in place of those desired responses, he's blushing and nervous as Jaemin slowly brings Chenle's hot face to his chest, thinly covered by the shirt.

"Isn't this your favorite hoodie?" Chenle peers up with large eyes questioningly, overwhelmed by the hug and Jaemin's nonchalant attitude. Had Donghyuck lied to his face then?

There's a tint of pink on the apple of Jaemin's cheeks but the older boy distracts Chenle with an affirmative nod of his head.

"I never said it wasn't." Jaemin points out, still casually hugging Chenle.

"You bought it for me remember? Why wouldn't I let you wear it?" Jaemin says in an obvious tone. He hums to himself and proceeds to entertain himself with the ends of Chenle's hair.

"Damn, that's smooth."

Jeno comments as he slides his way past their hugging bodies.

"Also Jaemin, you have like five minutes until manager hyung comes and picks us up."

Chenle almost whines when Jaemin lets him go.

Which is really not like him, so he turns to Jeno and grabs his arm while Jaemin walks to the bedroom to get ready. Jeno gives him a questionable stare but doesn't say anything, simply pulling Chenle along with him to the door.

"Why is Chenle acting like a panda not wanting to part from his mom?" Donghyuck asks, looking up from his phone when Jeno makes his way (with Chenle) to him.

Jeno scoffs, aiming to slug an arm around the laughing boy's neck, but Donghyuck's fast reflex stops him just in time. 

"C'mon you're like Chenle's dad and Renjun's his mom. Jisung's the adopted baby. I'm the pride of the family, probably Chenle's older brother. Mark's the boring uncle who's always off doing who knows what. And Jaemin.."

There's a pause.

"Jaemin's the dog."

Chenle starts giggling at Donghyuck's wild comparisons, imagining Jaemin as a puppy smothering him with shy nose kisses. The imagery is too much for Chenle to handle so he hides his grinning face in Jaemin's hoodie paws.

"Wonderful, I can't believe I'm the head of this dysfunctional family." Renjun says in resigned disdain as he walks up to them. But there's the hint of a smile on his face, and Chenle knows even he thinks this is an amusing combination.

"Why am I adopted?" Jisung asks from his place on the couch. The maknae likes lounging on the couch these days, Chenle thinks. He watches as Renjun make his way over and pull Jisung up to this feet.

"Probably because you're too cool for us."

"Do you really want to be part of this mess?"

Chenle and Renjun answer at the same time.

"What mess?" Their manager had arrived and everyone but Jaemin was ready to go.

"Where's Jaemin?" He says with a sigh, already knowing the answer.

"Unfortunately, still getting ready." Jeno says with no added embellishments.

Chenle shrinks when he sees the tired look on their manager's face, hoping Jaemin woudn't be in too much trouble.

"Sorry, I probably wasted some of his time when he was getting ready." Chenle says, hoping it would assuage the older man.

But the manager gives him a sharp look, "I hope that doesn't happen again."

Chenle nods pitifully.

He's shaken out of the mild scolding when Jaemin appears by his side, noticing his slightly down state.

The older boy frowns and makes an attempt to say something but Chenle shakes his head and drags Jaemin to the car so they can sit together.

Everyone notices Chenle's mood when they're sitting in the car. He's looking out the window, ignoring the light chatter among the other members. The sky is gloomy and he can't see much beyond the mist and traffic. With a sigh, he leans his head against the glass and closes his eyes.

Jaemin, sitting next to him, watches all of this with quiet turmoil and turns to Jisung to ask him what's going on. But he's interrupted by Donghyuck who takes it upon himself to cheer Chenle up.

"Jaemin, you're the dog of this family."

A million thoughts filter through Jaemin's head but they all end up with the same expression. He stares funnily at everyone and Donghyuck laughs loudly at Jaemin's provoked face.

Next to Jaemin, he hears Chenle giggle softly to himself.

It's enough for now to appease the questions popping up in Jaemin's head but he'll ask the younger later - he has Donghyuck to kill first.

"Since when? No offense or anything, dogs are obviously the superior pet. Sorry not sorry Jeno, you're an insane cat geek." Jaemin rambles with deceived conviction, eyeing everyone in front of him suspiciously. 

"None taken, little puppy." Jeno smirks.

Chenle's full out giggling now, laughing at Jaemin's soulless face and Jeno's chortling. Everyone else is similarly finding amusement at Jaemin's expense and it's quite a sight.

"What are you guys then?" Jaemin grumbles, accepting his position as family dog and cautiously melds into the warmth of Chenle who has his body sprawled against the back seat now, watching the chatter with thinly veiled delight. 

"Since you guys can’t survive without me, I'm apparently the dad. And Jeno's my loving spouse." Renjun says with the shake of his head.

Jeno butts in, "And we have three children. Chenle's actually the pride of the family, while Donghyuck's the annoying older brother. Jisung is adopted." 

Jisung scowls from his seat on the right next to Jaemin. "I still don't understand why I'm adopted. I'm literally right here while Mark hyung is the uncle."

The youngest looks at Donghyuck for an explanation but the latter ignores him in favor of tickling Jeno for mildly insulting him.

"Of course Chenle's the pride of the family." Jaemin says, leaning over to squish Chenle's cheek, "And Jisung, are you sure you want to be part of a reality where Renjun's your mom and I'm a dog? You know I can't cook for you if that were the case." Jaemin simpers and pinches Jisung's cheek sneakily.

"Oh yeah, we're totally going to die if that were the case." Donghyuck quips from the front next to a breathless Jeno, narrowing dodging the neck pillow Renjun throws at him.

By the time of practice, Chenle's back in high spirits if the high-pitched cackling coming from the practice room was evidence of anything. The tired boy lying on the floor laughs again when he sees Jisung fail to attempt a hand stand, crumpling to the floor when he loses balance. Chenle should probably go check if he's alright but he'll leave the babying to Renjun who's already by Jisung's side, berating him for potentially hurting himself right before their fan meet.

Chenle curls up to Jeno who is talking quietly with Jaemin by the wall, and leans onto the blonde's shoulder to bother him.

"Hyung, when are we supposed to go?"

Jeno gives Jaemin a look but then checks his phone. "Should be soon? Once Donghyuck's ready and dressed."

Chenle groans and splays himself over Jeno's lap, head landing on Jaemin. "We're never going to leave this place and see the fans at this rate."

Jaemin gives Chenle a sympathetic smile while patting his head diligently.

The door slams open.

"Get in the car bitches, it's time to go see some fans!" 

The fan meet was an absolute joy. Chenle always enjoyed interacting with the people who gave them the support and encouragement they needed, reminding them that their efforts weren't for naught and that people liked their performances and songs. 

Someone gifted them bunny hats and Chenle took liberty in playing around with his throughout the signing.

This was the fifth time he's hit good-natured Jaemin hyung in the cheek with one of the bunny ears. Jaemin mimics pain as he clutches his cheek in mild offense, but he doesn't say anything to Chenle, turning back to the fan in front of him and continuing their conversation.

The fan in front of Chenle smiles at their bantering.

"Jaemin oppa is really sweet right, oppa? He never gets angry at you."

Chenle nods mischievously, "Yeah that's why I can get away with being annoying." He grins when the fan laughs.

"Don't push him too much, oppa. Our Chenle oppa is really fearless." The fan teases, before pushing the NCT Dream album to Chenle to sign. 

Once the fan moves onto Jaemin, Chenle turns his head to say something along the lines of _annoyingly fearless_ to the other but he gets hit square in the face by one of the bunny ears.

He gasps when he sees Jaemin smile at him before the older focuses his attention back on his fan, ignoring the shocked expression on Chenle's face.

_Maybe annoying hyung will only backfire on me..._

His premonitions come true when Chenle ends up sitting in the back of the van after the fan meet with the bunny hat on his head and the two hanging ends triple knotted against his chin - Jisung and Jaemin both holding his hands tightly so he can't unknot the thing on his head.

"Okay I understand why Jaemin's doing this but why are you doing this to me, you traitor?"

Jisung smiles.

"Hyung promised me food."

Chenle scrunches his nose.

"Touché." 

Their manager pulls him aside before he can enter the dorm with everyone else. Chenle's confused but he stays quiet as the manager worriedly looks down at his shoes.

"I hate to say this Chenle but be careful with how you interact with the members in the public. You have an image, and we don't want you to get into trouble with assuming fans if they see you teasing the others too much."

Chenle cocks his head to the side, remembering how he kept hitting Jaemin in the face with the toy but the older boy didn't complain at all.

"Wouldn't Jaemin say something if he minded it?"

His manager looks at him in deep thought. "He should but Jaemin has a good temper. I'm saying this for your sake Chenle. People like to over analyze what they see." He pats Chenle's back when the younger's shoulders slump in defeat.

"You're not a brat, kid. Just don't push Jaemin too much." 

Chenle doesn't hear his manager telling him to remember to eat healthily for dinner before he leaves Chenle standing alone in front of their dorm.

The only thing running through his mind is...

_Am I annoying?_

He doesn't seek out as many interactions with Jaemin the next few days, taking to following Renjun and Jeno around discreetly when he's looking for a lap to sit on or yearning for pats and comfort. The other hyungs don't mention anything about his unusual clinginess, though more than once Renjun looks at him curiously, the beginnings of a question forming on his lips. Chenle quickly shuts him down in those moments and starts talking about something funny that happened that day. Even Jisung, whom he ends up spending less time with, says nothing. Though Chenle's sure he threw him a few glares when Chenle was too coddled in Renjun's embrace.

It goes without saying that Jaemin corners him one day in their bedroom, where he finds Chenle wrapped around Jaemin's largest Ryan plush pillow and staring moodily at a wall.

"Chenle, do you want to talk?"

Chenle untangles himself from the squished pillow and sees a haggard Jaemin, fingers carding through his messy locks. He looks tense and a bit bothered as he sits on the edge of the bed and looks anxiously down at the younger.

"Talk about what?" 

He's sorry that he sounds testy, but he'd rather be sullen than distressed - finding it easier to lash out than to break down into tears.

Though Jaemin deserves neither of these two responses.

"We haven't played around much these days and whenever I tease you, you shrink back and only laugh before going somewhere else. Why aren't you saying anything back?"

Jaemin sits against the bed frame, a few inches from Chenle but doesn't dare to touch the younger. The air is awkward so Chenle sighs.

"I think I'm annoying."

Jaemin’s face crumbles in empathetic understanding and it takes all of Chenle’s willpower to not cry then and there.

"Aw Chenle, you're not annoying at all." Jaemin pulls Chenle up and into a fierce hug. "I would rather have you spill orange juice on my airplane seat again than to have you not fight back and look so worried over offending me."

"But manager hyung-"

"What did he say?" 

Jaemin’s grip on Chenle tightens and Chenle feels comforted in finally saying what's on his mind, having someone stand up for him even though he wonders if he deserves it.

"He's worried about me annoying you and how the fans might feel if I were to accidentally overstep a line."

Jaemin frowns, something akin to displeasure lurking in his brown eyes.

"If I were annoyed, I would say something. And fans who assume the worst of you and those who badmouth you based on actions alone don't have business with Dream."

Jaemin says, cupping Chenle's face to stare at him head on with steadfast seriousness. 

"Now don't worry about how you may affect me and continue being yourself. Friends tell each other if what they do bothers them. But I haven't said anything yet." 

And he kisses Chenle on the nose, making the younger go cross eyed by the sudden affection.

"Okay."

It's been a while since he felt safe in someone's arms but tonight, Chenle sleeps peacefully in his loving hyung's embrace.

"Hyung. It's your job to protect an artist when they're subject to defamation or physical, mental, and emotional abuse. Rather than warning someone about one of many possible outcomes from a single action, you should be supporting that person when people do assume negatively. Since I was the recipient of the teasing, I would say something if it hurt me. But I didn't, so I don't think it's right of you to speak on my behalf even though you are looking out for us. Instead, it's holding that person back from interacting naturally with me, and I think micro-managing our actions is worse."

Jaemin pierces the quiet dorm with his words, as their surprised manager walks in to take them to their next schedule.

Chenle was wrestling with Jisung on the floor when Jaemin speaks up and he pauses in grabbing Jisung's ear once he hears the underlying tremor in his hyung's voice.

Both Donghyuck and Jisung stare in shock at the deadpan expression on Jaemin's face, weighty words dropping the once cheery atmosphere. Renjun looks amazed at Jaemin's outburst but not that surprised. He shares a hidden smile with Jeno, switching quickly to a concerned gaze when the manager looks at the members.

Their manager heeds Jaemin's words gravely and nods. "I see your point. I didn't want Chenle to be hurt, but sometimes it can make things worse." He looks over to Chenle on the floor, amused at the scruffy state of the two youngest members. "Although if I find out you dirtied another one of your sponsored clothes, I won't hesitate to give you a talk."

Chenle sheepishly smiles back.

"I'll go to the car first, be sure to come immediately."

Once their manager leaves, Donghyuck lets out a big breath.

"That's probably one of the few times I've seen you so angry." He whistles, pretty impressed.

"He needed to hear that." Jaemin tersely says, picking up his cap on the couch. Jeno touches him lightly on the arm, making sure he's okay.

"I can't believe you scolded the manager though. I've never seen you do that." Renjun comments. He's already putting on his shoes next to Donghyuck, and giving Chenle and Jisung, who are still on the ground, a raise of his eyebrows.

"I'm not angry." Jaemin insists, walking over to the door.

Chenle watches as Jaemin open it for Renjun and Donghyuck. 

"But your face looks flushed?" He points out once he's close enough to the older and he sees the blotches of angry red dotting Jaemin's face.

"Woah." Jisung lets out a gasp from beside him, having gotten up from the floor after Chenle.

"I may or may not have gotten a bit agitated with passion," Jaemin acquiesces before he turns around and walks down the hall.

The other hyungs also begin to leave, leaving only Jeno to dawdle with his shoes.

"Don't forget to lock the door, Chenle."

Chenle nods and Jeno leaves. 

He turns to Jisung.

"What the heck was that?"

Jisung still looks a bit stunned but he recovers when he realizes the two of them were going to be late.

"I think you made Jaemin show anger, Lele." He says as they hurriedly put on their shoes and locked the door.

As they jog towards the elevator, Chenle can't help but think.

_An angry Jaemin really cares about him._

"Hyung you kind of suck at this game." 

Chenle's lying upside down on the couch, watching Jaemin try to compete in a single player game against some CPUs. The latter isn't fairing so well, the screen flashing a 'You Lose!' for the third time in a row. 

"I tried." Jaemin says with a huff before falling back onto the couch. The movement jostles Chenle as he bangs the back of his head slightly against the bottom of the furniture, and he throws the older a glare.

"귀여운! _(cute)_ " Jaemin chirps out, making grabby hands at Chenle's cheeks.

He lets him squish his face, especially considering that the older has been stressed lately with writing lyrics. Chenle is too aware of this, finding himself falling asleep without the other beside him, probably clocking in extra hours at the studio. So it's nice to see Jaemin blowing off the stress with Chenle for a few hours although he's sure his hyung would retreat back to the practice rooms after dinner tonight.

He misses Na Jaemin.

"Alright. I need to go and work on my lyrics. You guys should order some food for dinner." Jaemin stands up and stretches his arms. He has already grabbed his jacket and keys, shuffling past Chenle.

_Oh I guess he's leaving now..._

"Don't forget to eat hyung!" Chenle calls out belatedly, when he gathers his senses. Jaemin gives him a salute before the door clicks shut and Chenle's alone in the living room.

Chenle flips onto his side. Twenty minutes have passed since Chenle got into bed and he's not feeling sleepy at all. There's an ache inside his chest and he wonders when Jaemin will be back. He hopes the older boy isn't overworking himself, or worse, passed out on the desk.

The sound of his phone dying catches his attention.

He picks up the sad device in his hand. The time reads 12:26am before his phone dies on him.

_Damn, I guess I forgot to charge it._

With a groan, he gets out of bed and stalks over to Jaemin's closet, pulling out a random sweater and one of his own winter coats. He's feeling too lazy to change out of his sleepwear. If he runs, he probably won't be cold anyways.

He sneaks out the room, no specific plan in mind, but sees Jisung lounging in front of the TV, the soft sounds of a horror movie playing in the background. The maknae is encased in a huge blanket, an empty spot next to him.

"Where are you going?" He asks in alarm as Chenle tries to slip past him to put on his shoes.

"I'm going to SM to check up on Jaemin. What are you doing?"

Jisung looks to the spot by his side before turning back to Chenle. "I'm watching something with Renjun hyung but he's in the rest room right now." He gives Chenle a squint, "Shouldn't you stay inside?"

Chenle shrugs, "I'm worried. He hasn't been home until really late these days so I'm going to march over there and smack some sense into him." He pauses, "By the way, can you text or call him if I haven't let you know I'm there in like twenty minutes? I'm not bringing my phone."

"Don't do anything stupid Lele," Jisung says, but agrees to do his bidding when Chenle waves a goodbye to him as he leaves.

It's surely his luck that the bus he wants to take isn't running at this time. The sky looks dark and cloudy with the distant rumbling of thunder, a bad sign if Chenle paid any attention to the weather but the orange haired boy is grumbling because he forgot his wallet and can't take a taxi either. He's not even sure what time it is and the distance to the SM building isn't exactly a short one.

He can always go back to the warmth of the dorms, crawl under the blanket and not be out here in the cold cold night.

But something within him tells Chenle to find Jaemin, the urge to see his hyung almost unfaltering.

He turns away from the bus stop and settles into a light jog in the direction of the building, hoping to not be too late and send Jisung into a frenzy. He knows the younger boy tends to worry a lot about his safety despite Chenle being a few months older. It's not ideal thinking about all the potential people worrying about him while he's out so late, but Chenle's always been a bit reckless in his behavior. He really hopes nothing tragic happens.

After probably jogging for about a few blocks down the street, Chenle feels something hit his head.

_What the actual fuck._

The sky is pouring down onto him, matting his hair to his forehead and Chenle wants to cry along with the rain. He hurriedly pulls his hoodie up but the damage is done. He's shivering at the coldness seeping into his night shirt and the water in his shoes.

With a grit of his teeth and a steely resolution, Chenle starts running. He read somewhere about how rain doesn't necessarily hit him less if he runs but as long as he spends less time under the rain, he can minimize getting wet.

He runs and runs - he doesn't know for how long.

It's only until he sees the light of the SM building shine through the rainy haze that Chenle wants to scream in exasperation. His lungs are burning from the ill-timed cardio and his legs feel like jelly. Running those blocks has drained his energy, even as an idol who has an insane schedule every now and then. At one point, he almost got hit by a car during a red light, but Chenle's unfazed.

He just really wants to see Jaemin and perhaps knock out cold on the couch in their studio.

He quickly enters the building, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Chenle walks to the elevators, passing the stairs when the door to the stairwell suddenly opens and almost hits him in the face.

"CHENLE!"

He feels someone grab him by the shoulders and he winces at the tight grip the person has. 

"Are you crazy?!" 

Jaemin's staring at him in a frenzy, looking at Chenle from head to toe with a pale face. The panic in his voice is teetering the uneasiness Chenle feels within his gut. 

He slumps forward.

When Chenle comes to, he finds himself lying down on the couch in the small studio. Head placed on a pillow, wrapped in a big coat that smells like Jaemin, and the aforementioned male firmly gripping his hand.

"I'm never doing that again." Chenle says with a groan, trying to sit up. He realizes he's no longer wearing his night clothes, instead in a suspiciously familiar looking hoodie and a pair of sweats.

"No you lie back down mister. How dare you make us all worry like that!" Jaemin stares him down, not moving from beside him, and Chenle breathes out through his nose and sinks back onto the couch. 

"So about that..." Chenle starts nervously.

"Why are you here? It's past one! Jisung's crying and Renjun is beating himself up for not catching you before you left." Jaemin almost shouts, but brings the volume of his voice down when he sees Chenle recoil away from him.

"I wanted to see you, hyung." Chenle whispers, looking down at their hands. He didn't think it would turn to this. If only he hadn't been so stupid.

He hears Jaemin let out an insufferable sigh.

"I was about to leave and head back when Jisung called me, asking me if you were here. But you weren't! And it was pouring so much outside. I tried calling your phone but it didn't go through and-" The older takes a deep breath to control the panic coursing throughout him.

"I was so scared that I thought something happened to you and somehow I was responsible for it."

Chenle realizes Jaemin's shaking, the hand in his own trembling in its wake. Chenle starts crying when he hears the sobs coming from his hyung, sweet and strong Nana hyung. He gets up and holds Jaemin as the older boy cries into his shoulder. Chenle's heart hurts and he's not so sure why Jaemin has such an effect on him.

By the time Jaemin has reduced to quiet sniffles and has his breathing back to normal, Chenle picks up Jaemin's phone to dial Jisung.

"Hey Jisung, I'm here now." He winces when he hears the younger yell, "I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I couldn't take the bus and forgot my wallet so couldn't call a taxi. I ended up running here." He hums looking down at Jaemin who's in his arms with his face buried in Chenle's neck. "Yeah, I think I almost died running in the rain since I barely missed a car hitting me" Chenle chokes back a laugh, "Okay, I'll be back soon. With Jaemin hyung of course."

When he ends the call, Jaemin lifts his face.

"Hit by a car? What the hell Zhong Chenle?" 

"Oops?"

After explaining his series of unfortunate events, Chenle somehow finds himself lying back on the couch with Jaemin hugging him, almost squishing the life out of him. The narrowness of the couch can account for why Jaemin isn't letting him go, but having Jaemin's face so intimately close to Chenle's doesn't explain why his heart is beating so fast.

"I already messaged Jisung that we'll stay here for the night." There's a pretty twinkle in Jaemin's eyes as he says this, and Chenle has an urge to find out why he's just seeing it now.

"Aren't you uncomfortable? And cold?" Chenle bites back sarcastically, seeing that the older boy had shed his clothes so that Chenle can be in warm clothes. Wearing only a black t-shirt and his favorite pair of black jeans.

"Uncomfortable? Definitely not. Don't underestimate my love for cuddling," Jaemin smirks, "And I'm not cold as long as I get to hug you!"

Chenle wants to scoff or squeal - a mix of the two. But instead he hides his face in Jaemin's chest.

"How does flattery always look so good on you hyung?"

Jaemin chuckles, nuzzling his nose into the crown of Chenle's head. "I only speak the truth."

But he clears his throat and murmurs, "Please don't do dangerous things for my sake again. I don't want to experience that fear ever again."

"I promise. But really hyung, stop spending all these late hours here. It's better if you come home by nine so you can rest and focus better next time." 

"I will. I'm sorry too." 

Chenle falls asleep to the steady drumming of Jaemin's heart, not knowing that his growing fondness for the one and only Na Jaemin was going to slowly overwhelm his relationship with the other.

"I'm going to miss having you as my roommate, Lele."

Chenle would be at the car by now but there's a menace hanging off his shoulders and latching onto his back.

"It's not like I'm going forever, hyung." Chenle tries to take another step but Jaemin has hopped onto him, wrapping his arms around Chenle's neck and legs around his waist.

"Are you serious???" Chenle almost falls under the weight but grips onto Jaemin's ankles, forgoing the suitcase in his hand. He feels the older boy smile against the back of his neck and Chenle's trying his utmost best to control rolling his eyes. His heart says something different though, as it's beating furiously within his rib cage.

"Chenle, 准备好了吗?" Renjun's voice rings out through the rooms and Chenle tries to tell him _yes he's done if someone can stop being a leech_ but he gets distracted by a smooch on his cheek.

"Hehe, Lele got surprise kissed by Nana" Jaemin's aegyo voice is melodious and dangerous by Chenle's ear.

The younger boy is ready to screech anytime now.

"Oh there you two are," Renjun's standing by the doorway. "Jaemin, you're going to kill Chenle at this rate." He points to Chenle's glaringly red face.

"Kill Chenle with my love?" Jaemin nevertheless gets off him, and loosely clings onto Renjun, "Should've told me you were jealous Injunnie."

The oldest of the three must have seen something on Chenle's face change because he makes a small noise, but Chenle quickly schools his expression.

"We need to go," He grumbles to no one in particular, grabbing his suitcase and leaving the room. As Chenle makes his way to the entrance, he bumps into Jisung, who looks a bit guilty at the turn of events.

"That dare may have been harder than I expected." He says, looking down and awkwardly playing around his fingers.

Chenle snorts, "It's no biggie Jisungie. I won't die if I do your chores." 

"But you'll have to go back and forth between schedules, the dorm, and your house." 

"If there's anyone we should feel sorry for, it should be manager-hyung." Chenle places a reassuring hand on the maknae's shoulder. "I'll just hang out more here with you guys before I go home."

Jisung nods cutely in response and Chenle has to suppress a grin at the younger's natural charm.

"Help me with the suitcase?" Chenle laughs when Jisung concedes begrudgingly, smiling at the older, "Maybe you can rope the hyungs into helping you do the chores Lele."

"I like the way you think, Sungie-ah."

"Did you separate the the white socks from the rest of the pile?" Jeno asks as the blonde saunters back into the laundry room, peering into the now empty basket and cocking his head like a puppy at Chenle. The older had been helping Chenle do the laundry but mysteriously disappeared halfway through when he received a suspicious picture of a cat on his phone from Donghyuck. He's back now though, a bit out of breath but still looking like a windswept model. 

Chenle searches his brain for an answer that would appropriately suffice, but he comes up with nothing.

"Er..."

Jeno, realizing the impending doom of Chenle's lack of foresight, moans.

"I swear one of Hyuck's red shirts was in the pile. Now I'm going to have pink socks!" 

Chenle flushes, embarrassed by his little mistake. He looks to the machine that’s currently in operation, thinking of a way to stop its spinning and perhaps retrieve the socks now sadly getting intermixed with the colors.

"I got this!" He tries wrenching open the door but realizes belatedly it's locked. Fortunately, simply a few minutes have passed since the machine has started running and Chenle's sharp eyes catch the blinking red pause button on the side of the device. He presses it and lets out a victorious sound.

"Barely made it, hyung." He says as he pulls open the door.

What Chenle forgets to account for is the small amount of water that has built up against the washing machine door, pouring out now and drenching Chenle's lower half.

Jeno chokes on his laughter, but immediately turns solemn when the water starts pooling around in the room. 

"Okay, nevermind, that's not funny anymore. Wait here for a second."

Chenle brings a hand up to his face and drags it down against his cheeks in annoyance - he crouches down, making sure he doesn't sit in the water.

_Today is officially the worst._

Jeno's back in a few seconds, towels in one hand and a pair of his own shorts and Chenle's undergarments in the other. He places them on the dryer next to Chenle.

"Let's get the socks out first. Wrap this around your waist and I'll mop up the mess." 

Chenle takes the towel and mimics a bath wrap, bending down to dig through the wet clothes in their washer. He mumbles an apology when Jeno is near him, also similarly on the floor but cleaning up the water.

The older boy merely laughs and ruffles his hair, "Trust me, this isn't as bad as Jisung when he tries to do anything around the house. But Jaemin constantly coddles him, so I wonder if that's why Jisung still has poop hands." Jeno's mopping up the last droplets of water when he seems to remember something.

"But Jaeminnie coddles you too right? I've seen him get awfully clingy with you as of late." Jeno smirks but when Chenle blinks, the odd look in his hyung's eyes is gone and is replaced with the boy's trademark crescent-shaped eyes.

"Uh, I guess since it's getting cold and stuff." Chenle clears his throat, trying to will away the sudden blush crawling up his neck.

"Oo-kay if that's what you say. Hey, how about you pay me back by cuddling with me during tonight's movie night?" Jeno suggests.

Chenle doesn't look back at him, too embarrassed by his lame explanation, and absentmindedly nods back.

"Yeah sure, hyung."

Chenle feels Jaemin boring holes on the side of his head from his comfortable position between Jeno's legs on the living room floor. Comfortable because Jeno's wearing a really soft sweater and he has Chenle encased in a nice hug (not too tight like the person staring at him unrelentingly from the couch). He buries his cheek against the comfy material and lets his focus drift back to the movie playing. He'll ask Jaemin later why he's drilling lasers during the movie instead of actually watching the award-winning film, because he's going to miss a good scene at this rate if he dwells too much on his hyung's weird behavior.

It's getting to a good part when he feels Jeno shift against him, arm reaching out to grab at the popcorn bowl but coming up empty. Chenle feels his hyung's nose poke his cheek. 

"Hey I'm going to get up and grab some more."

Jisung interrupts them, "Nah hyung, get Chenle to do it."

Chenle scowls at the maknae, who's lazily leaning against Renjun's arm on the couch and giving Chenle an angel-like smile. The tall baby of NCT Dream has been more gutsy lately, and it may be due in part to how much time he's spending with Renjun or maybe it's because he knows Chenle's kind of under his mercy.

What happened to the shy boy that used to follow Chenle around and looked up to how cool Zhong Chenle was? _Is_ _!_

Chenle shushes Jeno's protests as he gets up from the latter's lap. 

"It's fine, I owe Jisung one anyways." Jeno looks at him with poorly concealed confusion but stops expressing his objection when Donghyuck reaches over and lightly smacks Jeno's head to shut him up, complaining that his puppy-like noise wasn't contributing to the movie.

Chenle leaves Jeno to whine to Donghyuck as he makes his way to the kitchen.

Humming to himself, Chenle looks for the ready-made popcorn sitting by the microwave.

He's barely poured a new bowl of popcorn when he gets trapped against the counter by none other than Jaemin. His hyung's sweet scent overwhelmingly confusing his senses, and Chenle's aware that he himself is feeling weak, leaning against the counter behind him to gain some semblance of balance.

"What are you doing?" Chenle's eyes dart from the buttery treat in his hands to the dark look in Jaemin's eyes. Hold up. Dark? The kitchen lights are pretty bright though...

"Sit with me." The older boy says without waiting for a response. He gently drags Chenle back with him to the rest of the group, not so lightly shoving the bowl of popcorn into Jeno's awaiting hands, before pulling Chenle to sit down with him as Jaemin falls onto the couch.

"Damn Jaemin, this couch isn't made to fit that many people." Renjun retorts, getting pushed closer to Jisung who looks like he's genuinely enjoying the situation.

"Geez sorry princess," Jaemin snarks back before pulling Chenle onto his lap and effectively shutting Renjun up.

"Why are you so prickly Na?" Renjun furrows his eyebrows. He looks at Chenle for an answer but Chenle's face is burning up and he avoids the elder's eyes. 

"He's just jealous." Donghyuck comments not so wisely from his spot at the other end.

"Ow!" 

"Shut your trap Hyuckie." Jaemin says calmly, placing the hand that had just thrown a pillow at the other's face back in Chenle's hair, twirling strands of the fading orange dye.

"Note to self, jealousy isn't a good look on Na Jaemin's face." The vocalist mutters quietly to himself. Jaemin pretends he doesn't hear anything, too busy looking down at Chenle.

"Whose shorts are these?" He's playing with the material of Chenle's pants, lips unconsciously pouting. Chenle squeaks when Jaemin's cold fingers brush against his thighs.

To hide his embarrassment, he grabs ahold of Jaemin's fingers to still the handsy nature of the older boy.

"Jeno's. I got laundry water on me earlier." 

"And you didn't grab one of your own shorts? Better yet, mine?" There's an unmistakable hurt tone to Jaemin's words that Chenle can't for the life of him figure out why it's there. Specifically, 'better yet' Jaemin's shorts?

Bewildered, Chenle looks at Jaemin. "Are you okay hyung?"

Jaemin sighs against the side of Chenle's neck and it would be a lie to say the younger doesn't flinch.

"I don't know..."

Cursing his soft heart, Chenle turns around so that he's facing his hyung. "Hey I don't know what's wrong but maybe a hug can help." He tries to smile brightly up at Jaemin, despite the tumultuous unrest messing up his mind. 

There's something wrong with how Chenle's feeling about this situation but he doesn't have the privilege to think about it, not when the older needs a hug.

They stay like that, wrapped up in each other for a good minute until Chenle feels something hit his head.

"Renjun, don't waste good popcorn!" 

"They're literally being disgusting right in front of the food. How can I not?!" 

The soft moment ends with Renjun and Donghyuck's squabbling, and Chenle feels a headache coming.

"Hm, make me feel better by staying for the night and cuddling me to sleep?" Jaemin whispers, in a tone he doesn't quite understand.

Nonetheless, Chenle blushes but this time doesn't try to force it down.

"Fine."

"You know you've actually made Jaemin show four different emotions these weeks?"

The hyungs are all out today for different activities and Chenle finds himself hanging out with Jisung at their nearby convenience store.

"What do you mean?" Chenle sips at his juice, trying to steal a bite of Jisung's food. The younger boy relents, still talking seriously.

"Well I'll count it as four. I've seen him get angry at the manager on your behalf, sad and scared the time you were running around like an idiot in the rain, and recently jealous when Jeno was monopolizing you during movie night."

Chenle chokes and knocks over his juice, disappointed at the now overturned juice box leaking and dramatically deflating on the table. Jisung lets out a garbled sound, hurriedly throwing napkins at the puddle.

"Stop playing around with me Sungie," Chenle complains, trying to hide the surprise he feels at the disclosure of important information. 

"I'm not joking around Lele. I think Jaeminnie hyung likes you." Jisung drops the last sentence out of seemingly nowhere, as if those words mean nothing to Chenle who brings his hands up to his face, covering his suddenly burning cheeks.

"I think I'm going to die Jisung-ah." Chenle gripes, not coming to terms with how he feels about what Jisung just said. "Hurry feed me another bite of your food before you try to tell me more of your nonsense."

Jisung lets out an offended sound but lets Chenle take a bite of his rice.

_"What about the last emotion?"_

_Jisung looks at him with a flicker of interest._

_"I think I have an idea of what it is but we'll have to wait and see."_

Chenle's nearing the end of his punishment, as proclaimed by Jisung this morning.

"Morning Lele, how do you feel on this fine morning about the abolishment of being my right-hand man these past two weeks?" Jisung smiles with all his teeth, taking a seat by Chenle on the couch.

"Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Except for the time I almost fell down the stairs carrying the trash. No thank you to that!" Chenle grumbles, bringing an arm up to his forehead to hide from the morning rays hitting his eyes.

"Yeah, no taking out the trash today! But you have to clean the practice rooms with Donghyuck and Renjun hyung." Jisung taps Chenle lightly on the side of his head.

"You're actually the absolute worst Pwark Jisung."

Jisung giggles. 

"I know, I try."

Chenle feels bad about not saying bye to Jaemin before he leaves for the studio today. He hasn't felt the same interacting with the older boy since Jisung told him the other was jealous that one night. Chenle wants to deny he's ignoring his band member, but he isn't particularly seeking him out either. There's so much he wants to address in his head and heart. Questions about their now close relationship and of the like. But there's a lot going on, with schedules left and right, and Chenle hasn't found a good moment during their erratic breaks to spend quality time with Jaemin.

He thinks, maybe after he cleans the practice rooms, he'll hunt down the seemingly quiet boy. After all, Jaemin's been withdrawn lately and spending more time with Jisung, which definitely does not matter to Chenle, just saying.

  
  


"The person who finishes their side last has to buy the others drinks!" Donghyuck yells out before getting a head start on cleaning.

"Hey, you're cheating hyung!" Chenle objects but promptly starts the task on hand. 

Renjun places his hands on his hips and stares at the two chaotic boys running around like headless chickens. "You guys have no chance in winning against me. Fools, all of you."

"That's what you think 哥, but watch yourself lose." Chenle smirks.

"You know, I probably shouldn't have said anything." 

Chenle presses the button for the jasmine tea, watching it drop with a slight pain in his eyes as the bottle hits the bottom of the vending machine and Renjun cheerfully bends down to fish it out.

"I love drinking the blood of my enemy." Renjun remarks after taking a sip of the tea.

"Even I'm surprised I was faster than you, Chenle." Donghyuck says after a gulp of banana milk, "Man, what took you so long?"

"Maybe I'm getting old," Chenle says, dodging the hits his two hyungs aim his way.

No, it was because he found one of Jaemin's Ryan plushies sitting by some lyric sheets. And Chenle chanced a peek at the lines written on the piece of paper, and was struck by the rolling waves of sadness emanating from the melancholy but beautiful words.

_What made Jaemin write something like that?_

He could be wrong, considering that his hyung has always been in tune with his emotions, having done an acting role and also having been painted as one of NCT's kind-hearted and sensitive members. But some of the notes on the page caught Chenle's attention and the boy can't help but feel the words prod the guilt in Chenle's chest.

He needs to talk to Jaemin.

It was late, and for once Chenle was sure everyone else was asleep or at least in bed. He had just finished running some errands, having found the one open slot of time in the day being the few hours leading up to two in the morning. With a tired gait to his steps, Chenle doesn't bother turning on any of the lights as he puts away his shoes. He had to tell the manager to not pick him up tonight to take him back home, seeing that it would probably be best if he crashed in Jisung's bed or on the couch.

As he quietly tip toes his way to the kitchen, maybe to make himself some hot water before going to bed, he almost screams at the dark shadow he encounters by the sink.

"Hyung?"

In the moonlight, he sees Jaemin hunched over the sink, staring down at the unwashed dishes piled up under the faucet. The boy isn't moving, not until Chenle hesitantly places a hand on his back. 

Jaemin jerks back as if only seeing Chenle then, muttering something about needing to go sleep, and trying to walk away.

"Hyung."

Chenle grabs the back of Jaemin t-shirt, holding the older boy in place.

"Chenle, let me go."

Jaemin murmurs, trying to undo the fingers gripping his shirt but he's trembling and Chenle can see the telltale glittering of tears about to roll down the other's face.

There's pain striking Chenle where it hurts the most and he drops the hand holding Jaemin back, only to start choking on his own sadness.

"No Jaemin hyung, why does it hurt so much to see you sad?" Chenle falls to the ground, covering his face with his hands as uncontrollable tears start falling out of his eyes.

"No baby, no no no." Jaemin whispers as he drops to his knees and reaches out to Chenle, pulling the other close and cupping his cheek.

"I haven't felt like myself lately hyung, and I've been doubting how close I am and can be to you. Sometimes I want you to continue hugging me out of nowhere, but other times I remember how annoying I can be and how there's a reason you're not as close to me." Chenle bitterly says, "I feel like I've deluded myself into thinking we can be closer friends because of all the affection you've shown me these weeks but in the end, you realized I didn't need you like Jisung needs you, like Renjun needs you, like the others need you on this team."

Chenle shudders, sinking onto the floor and resting his back against one of the cupboards. He feels Jaemin carefully sit beside him, feels the way the other grab his hand delicately, and feels the sound of a heavy exhale.

"Chenle, I like you."

Something tilts in his heart, wraps him up sideways and under. There are bells ringing, a steady drumming, and Chenle feels something snap.

"Wha-"

"No, let me continue talking. _Please_. I don't know when I started liking you but I think I've liked you for a long time now. I'm worried I _annoy_ you when I hug you all the time, that you might think the clinginess is unbearable. It was hard to let go of you for all those nights you spent with me as roommates," Jaemin jokes, looking at Chenle with a fond expression playing on his lips. 

"I don't know why you think you're annoying. No one, not even the fans, have called you annoying. You're one of the most fun members to be around. Your competitive nature gets me excited, your cheerfulness brings a smile to everyone's face, and your jokes always keep the atmosphere lively. Trust me, we need someone to throw remarks back at Donghyuckie and Injunnie. Also Jeno loves you." Jaemin says this last part with a hint of bitterness, and Chenle smiles at the slip of jealousy.

"You're _too_ lovable Zhong Chenle. Even resident baby monster Jisung calls you cute like 24/7. It makes me jealous at times how easily you can curl up to the others but how it's harder, comparatively, to be cute with me. I know it's probably because I have enough aegyo in me to fend off an army, but I wish you could treat me the same too." Jaemin pouts. Chenle giggles, watching as Jaemin's lips curl up.

"And the way you shine in a room of people makes me think you don't need me by your side to comfort you, to support you. But now I understand that's not the case." The older boy leans into Chenle's personal space, and Chenle's aware of how close the other's face is to his.

"Do you perhaps like me too?" He breathes out, air hitting Chenle's lips.

Chenle pushes the other boy away and Jaemin shrieks not so quietly when he falls onto the kitchen ground. "Sorry," Chenle mutters, carding his fingers gently through the hair on the back of Jaemin's head, and crawling onto the other. Jaemin stares back up at him in awe.

"Yes, you dumb idiot. I like you too." 

And he leans down and captures the grinning boy by the lips, effectively shutting him up.

Donghyuck's scream is what wakes up Chenle first. He pushes on the hard thing under his hand and blearily opens one eye to glare at the offending intruder.

That doesn't feel as soft as a pillow.

Chenle jerks up and knocks his forehead against a chin.

"What the hell."

The thing groans and Chenle looks up, seeing Jaemin smiling softly down at him. They must have fallen asleep on the couch, Jaemin serving as Chenle's makeshift pillow and blanket for the night. Chenle knows it's not the first time they cuddled but after yesterday night's confession, it hits differently. He blushes hotly.

"Morning baby."

Chenle squeaks and accidentally pushes Jaemin off the couch.

"I said I'm sorry!" Chenle whines, trying to squirm his way out of Jaemin's octopus-like grip.

"Then kiss it better!" Jaemin whines louder back.

The two of them are running in circles around the living room while the rest of the members are seated on the couch and staring at them with mixed responses. Jeno looks happy by the turn of events, though he's patting Donghyuck on the back because the boy had been complaining about seeing something he didn't need to see this morning. Donghyuck, despite his grievances, has a smile on his face and he immediately coos when Jaemin manages to snatch Chenle in their wild goose chase and pulls him into a back hug.

Jisung's looking at the two of them wistfully, gnawing on his lips. He yelps when Renjun waves a hand in front of his face asking if he's okay.

"Yeah, mighty fine." Jisung stupidly says, blushing pink when Renjun chuckles.

"Alright then." Renjun clears his throat and turns his attention back to the two standing members who are now having a kiss fight.

It's just Chenle trying to dodge Jaemin's attempts of affectionately kissing his cheek.

"Is this a thing now then?" The oldest of them gestures.

"Yes!" Jaemin pipes up, "And now that we have established that, can you guys all leave so that I can kiss Chenle to death?"

Chenle pales considerably, "To death???" He shrieks.

"Hehe, just kidding." And the sneaky boy lands a loud and wet smooch on Chenle's frozen face.

"This is so disgusting and cute," Renjun says, cringing his fingers against the sofa while unconsciously gripping one of Jisung's hand.

Jeno smirks.

"I doubt you should say that, Injunnie."

There's a misplaced silence.

"Would your face like to meet my fist, Jeno?" Renjun releases his hold on the blushing maknae and starts cracking his knuckles.

"Ha ha ha..would you look at the time. We should really get going, Hyuck." Jeno frantically gets up, grabbing the confused vocalist next to him.

"Go where?" But Jeno has already yanked Donghyuck out of the vicnity of the living room.

"You better watch yourself at night, Jeno-ah." Renjun says sweetly.

Chenle laughs as Jeno high tails it out of the dorm, with oblivious Donghyuck in tow. But then he remembers he's still trying to avoid Jaemin's obnoxious kisses.

_I suppose two can play at that game._

He turns his head, catching Jaemin by surprise, and places his lips on the other's open mouth. He may or may not have drawn out a soft moan from the older.

With a blush, he pulls away, quickly admiring the bruised lips and dazed look on Jaemin’s face before turning away and making direct eye contact with Jisung who has his jaw dropped open (Renjun failing to prevent the youngest from seeing that inappropriate scene).

"I guess the fifth emotion was love right Jisungie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 准备好了吗 - are you ready
> 
> (Y'ALL I think I'm dead. I didn't mean to make them cry that much or get that mushy with each other. I think I'm going to go scream in a corner now. Thanks for reading!)


End file.
